The Tale Never Ends

“I know,” Father replied, sounding puzzled, “But doesn’t that mean that he told you everything?” I stared at him, a question mark hanging in my mind. How does that mean he told me everything?

As if he had read my mind, Father chuckled. “He actually sent you back into the past by using astral projection—drawing out your Spirit Core and magically sending you back. And you were shown anything that you wished to see. Is this not better than simply telling you verbally?” That left me in a frown. Still, that hardly seemed like telling me everything. There were a good many things I had witnessed during my journey through time that I could not even understand until now.

Observing that I was still very much perplexed, Father said again, “I know what you’d seen in your journey through Time and I can tell you this: every answer that you seek is in there. All of it. It all depends on whether you can understand what you saw.” I scoffed, smiling bleakly. Now why am I not feeling cheerful after hearing this!? But I knew better than to delve further into Father’s cryptic message; I would rather just leave it at that for now.

I looked around and saw everyone staring awkwardly at me. Mother sat beside Father, wearing an amused but no less ambiguous smile. Next to me sat Edelweiss and further away, Big Sister. Na San was still perched on his stool and no one uttered a word. “What’s wrong?” I asked hesitantly, “Come on, what’s wrong with all of you? What’re you doing, Na San? Eat up.” Na San stood up slowly, his back inclining a little into a bow. “The likes of me would never dare share a table with the Lady Matriarch and you, Young Lordling. I’d be just fine here.”

There was something about Na San’s demeaning of himself that sent uneasy jitters through me. I thrust an arm at him and dragged him to the empty chair beside me. “Come on, for gods’ sakes. It’s the 21st century. What do you take me for? That egotistical and narcissistic prince of yours?” Na San said nothing, but his eyes were brimming with tears. Gods in Heaven, I almost scowled, there’s no need to be so emotional with just dinner! Are all slaves like this?!

But Father and Mother seemed hardly perturbed; their many adventures through the ages had made them no strangers to the abasement of slaves. As far as Big Sister and Edelweiss were concerned, Na San was only a hostage. A captive who should well be glad and grateful for us letting him live. That left only me. The only single odd one out wondering why am I in a family of such strange and peculiar behaviors.

It was only very long after this incident that I had the opportunity to understand more about the lives of slaves like Na San who lived under the brutal servitude to their masters, the remnants of the Qing ruling family. They had no personal freedom, not even basic human rights. They were expected to wait on their masters during meals and were only accorded food only at their masters’ whim and fancy. Even if there remained a whole table full of delicious food left unfinished, no slaves were permitted to partake unless with the permission of their overlords, even if the food would go to waste. Even in the case of Na San, he had only a rickety shack that looked no different to a dog’s kennel whilst his master Jin Qichen lived in a lavish villa.

Later that night, after our dinner, I went to Na San to offer him some blankets. He refused. A piece of newspaper. That was all he needed. And a little space at the corner of our living room. He would never dare allow himself to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in beds. At least not under our roof. Finding no other way to treat him as humanely as possible, I drove him to our Center and instructed him to sleep on the couch. At that time, I was feeling slightly annoyed at Na San, thinking that he was indeed a good-for-nothing. It was only after understanding more about him that I began to feel sorry and guilty at what I thought about him. But all that guilt and remorse would amount to nothing, for Na San died no very long after.

Back to the present.

Na San lifted his bowl of rice and rubbed away his tears with his sleeves. He peered down the table full of dishes, not knowing what to do. Father and Mother said nothing, merely grinning benignly at him that I remembered how they used to smile at the classmates I brought home for meals when I was a little boy.

Still, one thing still bothered me: no one was moving! Despite the aroma of delicious food wafting around us, no one had moved their chopsticks! Shaking my head, I took up my chopsticks and reached for the nearest dish when another pair of chopsticks slapped on my hand with a deafening crack! With a loud Ah! My hand withdrew as if a snake had bitten me and I saw Big Sister staring at me, seething. “What’s wrong, Big Sister!?” I cried indignantly and she replied reverently, “You impudent whelp! How can you start when Father has not yet started first! Where are your manners?”

I gawked with exclamation. Allowing elders to begin first at the dinner table was a practice we seldom practice at home. But in truth, what Big Sister said was right. Young people these days do not place much emphasis on mannerism anymore but it is these traditions that define and illustrate the gentility and nobility of the Chinese as sons of the Huaxia culture.

There was no way I could argue with such good sense. I shrugged and lowered chopsticks. But I could well be the only one at the table who grasped the least about mannerism and courtesy. Mother deferred to Father in almost everything; she would never move until Father did. Edelweiss might be formerly an outlaw, but brigands like her were known to have a sense of gallantry that made them firm believers in chivalry and courtesy; she would never lift her chopsticks until Big Sister and I made any move. And Big Sister was clearly different from me; she might be new to most idiosyncrasies of modern human society, but she was by no means an uncultured brute who knew nothing about respect and culture. And I was rather relieved to be spared of further embarrassment when Na San did not request to eat only our remains after we were finished, seeing as everyone at the table now was higher in status than him.

Father seeped at his cigarette and muttered dryly to me, “Look at your Big Sister. You could certainly take a leaf out of her book.” He crushed the stub and whisked up his chopsticks. “All right, let’s not dawdle anymore! Eat up!” And he reached for a stalk of vegetable.

Big Sister got up and took a flask of liquor. She filled Father’s and Mother’s cups before hers. Raising her cup, she exclaimed cheerily, “A toast to you, Father and Mother!” And she quickly downed it in a gulp before they did. Father and Mother beamed at her before they emptied their cups. “I understand that life has not been easy for you, Qinglan. You have a home with us here. Stay here. You don’t have to go back to the mountains,” said Father. “Thank you, Father,” Big Sister smiled demurely. Father turned to us, adding merrily, “I suppose we might need to keep an eye for any prospects for Qinglan. Shiyan is already getting married.” And he guffawed.

“Father…” Big Sister exclaimed with her cheeks burning red, trying to hush down a silly Father.

The dinner went on well, albeit awkwardly. I drove Na San to the Center after dinner. On the way, I asked, “Na San. Can you tell me about the people Jin Qichen is working with?” Na San fell silent for seconds before he mumbled hesitantly, “B-but…” Na San was taken captive, but he still maintains a strong loyalty to his master. Understanding this fully, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “It’s fine. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until these people show themselves to me then.”

Na San blushed. “Well, it’s not that I do not wish to help. But I’m only a slave. The Prince Beile would never divulge anything to me. But I know that a stranger came to the Prince Beile sometime before. He told the Prince Beile about you and your imminent arrival to Jilin. That is all I know. Slaves like me have no place beside our masters when they meet with guests.”

I nodded. “Can you tell me anything about this stranger?” “She came full-cloaked in black, so I couldn’t see her. But I knew it was a woman from her voice,” Na San revealed after some thinking.

I smiled weakly, knowing that Na San would hardly be able to supply any more valuable information. The journey went on without any more questions and I left Na San with Chongxi. The latter was sleeping when we got to the Center and I made him promise that he wouldn’t bully Na San before he crawled back upstairs to continue his sleep.

Zheng Shuang came to the Center first thing in the following morning and handed me a temporary identification card. It was a temporary ID for Big Sister before her own card was ready. With it, Big Sister would be able to ride on trains with us without needing to fly on swords.

“So, how should we transport our gear? The same way again?” Lin Feng asked. I raised my shoulders and nodded with exasperation; that was the only way we could get our weapons to our destination without worrying about safety checks. Lin Feng’s whip and throwing darts, along with my Shiyan Blade, were all dangerous items that could easily land us in jail even before we step foot into Yishui.

“What’s wrong?” Big Sister asked, overhearing us. I told her about our difficulty in transporting our weapons and she sniggered suddenly. She placed her hand over Lin Feng’s set of equipment and waved it. Lo and behold, Lin Feng’s whip and throwing darts instantly vanished!